On a sunny afternoon at Colchester Castle in Essex, Drummers Review presenter, Ollie Winiberg found himself with a backstage pass to one of rock’s most intriguing touring setups.
Hollywood Vampires (the supergroup featuring Alice Cooper, Johnny Depp and Joe Perry alongside Glen Sobel, Chris Wyse, Tommy Henriksen and Buck Johnson) were in town for another night of their UK run. With the outdoor stage basking in the summer sunshine and The Damned beginning to set up nearby, Glen had just finished soundchecking when Ollie joined him on stage for an in-depth look at his touring kit.
At the centre of the setup is a DW Collector’s Series kit, featuring a pair of 22” x 18” bass drums, a 6.5” x 14” Bell Brass snare and a streamlined tom configuration consisting of a 12” rack tom, 16” and 18” floor toms, plus a 14” tom currently serving as a rather unconventional music stand for the charts Glen still uses on a couple of songs.
The cymbal setup is unmistakably Glen Sobel. Sabian cymbals dominate the kit, including an O-Zone crash, a collection of 19” crashes, a Legacy ride, 15” HHX Power Hats and an XSR Fast Stack. There’s also a 10” splash that, remarkably, has survived the demands of touring without cracking.
But the real conversation starter sits behind Glen: a custom 18” x 4” pancake gong bass drum, complete with the Hollywood Vampires logo.
The unusual drum isn’t simply there to look cool. Glen uses it to trigger samples during the show, including the enormous bass-drum sound heard on Aerosmith’s “Livin’ on the Edge”. As Glen explains in the accompanying kit tour, the effect is so convincing that people sometimes assume the pancake gong itself produces that huge sound… something he happily lets them believe.
The electronic side of the setup continues with a collection of Roland pads used to trigger different sounds throughout the show, while a Porter & Davies throne provides Glen with tactile feedback from the bass drum. For a drummer, hearing the low end isn’t always enough; feeling it is a completely different experience.
Ollie also captured Glen playing Hollywood Vampires’ version of “Heroes” during the soundcheck, providing a glimpse of the kit in action before the night’s performance. With the sun shining over Castle Park and the sound of Glen’s DW kit carrying across the outdoor venue, it was a suitably impressive soundtrack to an afternoon backstage.
Hollywood Vampires might bring some of rock’s most recognisable names to the stage, but the drummer has a huge role in keeping the seven-piece machine moving. As Glen himself points out, the singer might appear to have the hardest job, but it’s the drummer who has to help hold everything together and direct the traffic.
You can catch Glen perform at The UK Drum Show across the weekend of 24th – 25th October at the LEX (formally ACC) Liverpool. Tickets available HERE.
